On the go: Fallen businessman Dominic Chappell told Southwark Crown Court of Philip Green’s intense dislike of the Pensions Regulator, and promises made to plug the deficit of BHS pension schemes.
As reported in the Financial Times, Mr Chappell — in court answering three charges of tax evasion — said on Wednesday that Sir Philip had promised him “as a billionaire and knight of the realm” that he would plug the BHS pension deficit, but that, when he acquired the retailer from Mr Green for £1 in 2015, the deficit remained unresolved.
“He gave me his word in a very strong way in front of 20-odd professionals, including from Olswang [a law firm] and Grant Thornton [accountants],” Mr Chappell told the jury, according to the FT.
Mr Chappell said Sir Philip “disliked the Pensions Regulator immensely” and that he refused to grant him access to BHS’s pension documents.
When BHS collapsed in 2016, its pension scheme deficit stood at £571m. Sir Philip subsequently agreed with the regulator that he would pay £363m into the scheme, while Mr Chappell has been ordered to pay £9.54m.
Mr Chappell stands accused of evading tax on the £2.2m income he received from the BHS purchase, and denies three counts of cheating the public revenue between January 2014 and September 2016. The trial is ongoing.
